EU, Obama talk sharing energy supplies

President Obama has discussed providing Europe with some energy supplies at an U.S.- EU summit in Brussels. As Joanna Partridge reports, the crisis in Crimea has reunited the old allies, and they're putting last year's spying row firmly behind them.

Published

11 months ago

Categories

Finance, US, World, Science, Technology

Topics

Finance, United States, Europe, International Relations, Energy

People

Barack Obama, Joanna Partridge, Michael Hewson

Places

United States of America, Ukraine, Russia, Belgium, Europe, Brussels, America

Companies

Cmc Markets

Transcript

Putting recent divisions behind them. Revelations about Washington spying on other countries soured relations with Europe. But President Obama's been rebuilding bridges on his European tour - and the old allies have reunited over the Crimea crisis. As Obama held his first summit with top EU officials, Ukraine led discussions again. He said the U.S. and Europe are looking closely at possible sanctions for Russia, aimed at the energy sector. And he echoed views of EU leaders, who are working to become less reliant on Russian gas. SOUNDBITE: U.S. President Barack Obama, saying (English): "Europe, collectively, is going to need to examine in light of what's happened, their energy policies to find are there additional ways that they can diversify and accelerate energy independence. The United States is a source of energy is one possibility and we've been blessed by some incredible resources." Obama said a EU / U.S. trade deal would also make it easier for America to export energy to Europe. EU negotiators are pressing their American counterparts to allow U.S. exports of gas into the EU. A sign that transatlantic relations are on the mend says Michael Hewson from CMC Markets. SOUNDBITE: Michael Hewson, Market Analyst, CMC Markets, saying (English): "I think if there's any one thing guaranteed to bring people closer together, it's having a common enemy, and I think Mr. Putin is playing into that role very nicely, so I think Russia gives the EU and the U.S. the opportunity to mend some of those fences." During visit to Belgium, Obama also honoured U.S. soliders who died in World War One. The timely visit underscoring his comments on how the nations have stood together before in times of crisis.